A Trip Into the Unknown…

As some people know, on March 19th our novella “Call of the Night Singers” will be released by Torquere Press. This is a very different venture for us in many ways, and we’re eager to see what people think.

What’s so different, you may ask. Well, to begin with, it’s in first person. I know a lot of people don’t care for first person POV, but in this case it was absolutely necessary for it to be written as such, because the story is very much an H.P. Lovecraft-inspired gothic horror. Both McKay and I are fans of the horror genre, and for me, especially, H.P. Lovecraft was one of the authors who I read extensively in my formative years. His kind of brooding, creeping horror/suspense had a big influence on my appreciation for a well-crafted tale of the macabre, and it’s very easy to trace his influence on authors such as Stephen King and Robert McCammon (both of whom I also enjoy).

The second difference is that the story is a historical. Our other historical piece, Heart of Stone, has been well-received, so we wanted to venture back to the Victorian era once more. One advantage of a historical setting for this kind of story is that it helps preserve the nature of the unexplained and unexplainable, to make the horror that much more fearsome because the characters don’t have to get caught up in things like DNA analysis or infrared photography to prove or disprove their experiences. This is in direct contrast to our story “Ghost of a Chance”; while “Ghost” wasn’t a horror story per se, the scientific proof (or lack of it) lay at the very heart of the conflict between the characters. In “Night Singers”, however, disbelief isn’t much of an option for the protagonists, and they are the products of a Victorian era which was rife with seers, seances, and all sorts of unexplained phenomena.

Another difference from our usual type of story is that it’s an established relationship piece. Geoffrey Wainwright, the POV character, has been with his lover Garland Heatherford for several years, and they are very much in love with one another. Rather than the central story involving characters discovering one another and finding love, this time love is the motivation for overcoming fear and horror in order for the characters to protect one another.

Even though this story is bit different from our other work, we do hope people enjoy it, especially those who are fans of a good horror story!

Story Blurb:

When Garland Heatherford is named heir to his uncle’s vast fortune, he isn’t pleased by the honor, and with good reason. The last five heirs all met with most untimely deaths – four of them from drowning. Although loathe to accept his inheritance, Garland nevertheless travels to the “cursed” town of Bath, North Carolina, to meet his aged uncle, hoping to avoid the fate of his predecessors. But Garland has something in his favor the other heirs didn’t: his lover, Geoffrey Wainwright.

The sight of the decaying hulk of Heatherford House dismays both men, yet they have little choice but to enter a world where a miasma of horror lies beneath a veneer of breeding, and madness and death seem to lurk in every corner. Ruling over all is the presence of sinister Roderick Heatherford, who has managed to outlive five young, healthy heirs despite his allegedly poor health. When an unexpected illness strikes Garland and he begins to sleepwalk, lured from bed by singing only he can hear, Geoffrey resolves to protect Garland from every danger – even if it costs him his own life.